Although various attempts have been made in the past to provide a method of removing slag and/or steel build-up from such lances, none of the prior attempts have been particularly successful, particularly since the 1980's when introduction of a new technique in which slag is splashed onto the walls of the furnace made the problem worse. U.S. Pat. No. 5,152,952 (Brenczek et al) issued Oct. 6, 1992 is an example of the prior art.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide an improved method for removing slag and/or steel build-up from such lances.